; the little -details- xXx

as 100 000 fans in the fan mile in berlin have shouted today:

danke deutschland!

(but more on that later)

actually, thankyou to all sixteen teams, to michael platini and the uefa people, and the euro 08 organizing committee, blahblah, and to the fans (except for those guilty of spoiling the atmosphere--see: racism, croatia) who have made the tournament an exciting one. while most people would say that euro cups are no world cups, personally i think it's a tad more exciting: in terms of quality, there aren’t big gaps between the teams--and there is a fewer number qualified for the finals that make it such a close and unpredictable tournament.

despite a few, uhm shall i say, less adrenaline-inducing games (like those that involve romania and greece), it's been high quality exciting football rich in quality, tactics, drama, dives and for the guys: hot babes among the audience while for the girls: hot hunks on the field. some players shine—some of whose price tag shoot up within this month (see: andrei arshavin; bastian schweinsteiger)—while some players disappoint (see: luca toni; paulo ferreira). some coaches become the joke of the continent (italy’s robert donadoni; french’s raymond domenech) while some coaches just plain rock (croatia’s slaven bilic; spain’s luis aragones). some teams were huge disappointments (france; portugal), while some teams took the tournament by storm (spain; turkey; russia).

anyway. everyone’s now back at their home country to bask in their fans’ love/hate except y’know, for the two hosts, and everyone’s gearing up for a new season of their respective domestic leagues (and for the big clubs: champions league) and for the still lackluster transfer window. the germany NT were welcomed home by literally huge mass of moving black, red and yellow in berlin where they were heralded as national heroes—as they were two years ago—for making it to the finals of the biggest prize european soccer offers.

(thousands of schoolchildren didn’t go to school just to see their heroes. how lucky).

all 23 players were interviewed—all admitting disappointment, some at least happy to reach the finals, and most, along with coach joachim low, promising a better team two years later—as well as exacting revenge on spain if the two teams ever meet again.

at least from a tactical point of view, jogi knows what to do if die mannschaft ever meet el roja fury again. also known as: what germany needs to improve on:

1.       “I would substitute all four defenders, but you’re only allowed three substitutes” someone said this earlier on of the german defense, and hopefully after being exposed too many times by so many teams, metzelder, friedrich, lahm/jansen and mertesacker would finally be acquainted with the job description that comes with being defenders.

2.       hildebrand would play in place of lehmann. right?

3.       run for the bloody ball. you can’t hope for the ball to end up in your feet magically. possession was way too easily lost and not easily regained—the spanish serves their game with flair, flowing, tricky passing with a combination of fancy footwork and creativity. the midfield better do something about it.

4.       and talking about midfield: play healthy midfielders. aka: make sure that ballack and frings are in one piece when they want to engage the young, fit spanish midfielders.

5.       klose: get the ball in front of your foot. shoot. gets in or not; at least you tried, and one of those chances gonna land the ball in the net. same goes for schweinsteiger, podolski, ballack and anyone who wants to play offense. accurate and well set crosses will always earn brownie points as well.

It wasn’t the best of all tournaments germany’s played in; one can only wonder if the franz beckenbauer era would ever come back, but this young team is still in the middle of making. there is a need to work in the playing attitude—at times, they appear energetic while at other times, lethargic.

World Cup 2006: third place

Euro Cup 2008: second place

World Cup 2010: ???

it would most probably be ballack’s, frings’ and maybe even klose’s last chance at a gold award (imagine how pissed ballack was when he saw the silver medal to be put among his many silver medals). if schneider is still in-form, I’d love to see him play one last time at international stage.

(i can’t imagine how the germany team would hold up without ballack, but i guess something, somehow, someone would pave the way for a new brilliant playmaker).

it’s about time for this new germany team to finally bring back that gold home—to cash in on that revolution jurgen klinsmann had started two years ago.

meanwhile, two years of international friendlies, and world cup qualifiers. now we can all start wondering what color schweinsteiger’s hair would be two years later, how many kids ballack would have by then, and whether we can finally find a topless picture of miroslav klose. (:

...for spain. congratulations to the el roja fury to finally break that 44 year old curse of theirs--they deserve it. arguably one of the best teams in the tournament, they've won all their games on their road to the finals, and throughout the knockout stages maintain consistent form as well as an amazing cleansheet. spain was the better team before playing last night based on these previous performances, and they were the best team in the game.

germany tried their best, but truthfully this tournament hasn't really been theirs; their topsy turvy form weighed them down as they stumbled across the tournament and yesterday's performance was--while they were flashes of dominance--not the kind that germany gave against portugal. it was great to see ballack play although he couldn't make as big as an impact he wanted to and went home with another silver. defense was... blargh, too many lapses as usual, but people like frings and ballack and surprisingly jens lehmann (!!!) managed to keep it 1-0 (i was thinking that it may end up 2-0 or 3-0 given how the spanish were playing). some people were invisible--couldn't notice they even played at all, like podolski and klose (and fabregas, but at least he's in the winning team). some people couldn't quite prove themselves that much like gomez and kuranyi (while jansen managed to do as good if not better job than the blundering lahm whose fault lead to the torres goal).

it was another case of sluggish lethargic german performance except for a few of "almost" scenarios. other than that, set pieces were all screwed up--corners and free kicks wasted away one after another--and possession was way too easily lost. the Fearsome Four made sure not many attempts were created--anyway, the germans couldn't even manage proper shots, kicking them over, wide of the goal at best (only one on goal shot in the game last night from the germans).

since the battle was in the midfield, when jogi switched to 4-4-2 after the first half, it was obvious that there was a disparity in the midfield. less and less balls were played in the spanish half of the field while the german defense needed to work really hard. the subs that jogi chose were not inspiring at all--maybe except for jansen, who perhaps has redeemed himself a little, although not many would remember someone's performance in game his team lost--did gomez even touch the ball?

but like what jogi and aragones hoped, it was a fitting end to an exciting tournament. the best team won in the end, and it's back to the drawing board for jogi--whose job should be safe for at least another two years--as he continued jurgen klinsmann's work in trying to revolutionise german football.

oh, and i hope schweinsteiger would stay in bayern. (:

unto world cup qualifying next!

I think Spain can beat Germany.

No, I'm not jumping ship or anything; I'm a hardcore Mannschaft fan from the beginning 'till the end, but on paper and based on previous performances in the tournament, we all know and agree that the Spanish team is a better side--hell, they are probably the best team so far in the tournament.

Iker Casillas has a clean sheet so far in the knockout stages and Spain has won all their games. Jens Lehmann conceded four silly goals against Portugal and Turkey and Germany has lost one horrible game against Croatia. It's obvious who the hell is the better keeper in the finals.

Spain has no visible weaknesses so far. Let's compare German and Spanish offense. Without David Villa--who hasn't scored in the knockout stages so far anyway, Aragones would field either Torres as a lone striker and put Fabregas in the midfield or Guiza would partner Torres. Put Xavi and Silva in the equation and you would have a really creative midfield and dangerous forward that have confounded almost all the teams Spain has gone against. So the only team that manages to hold the Spanish fury for 120 minutes so far is the Azurri, but the Italians really have top notch defense and Germany doesn't (see below).

Germany would most likely stick with the so-far-successful 4-2-3-1 formation, without Miroslav Klose as the lone striker. Klose is tried and tested veteran who heads balls like bullets, and while it's as if he should win Golden Head award instead of Golden Boots, in Bundesliga, Miro's legs are more than deadly. Klose's supported by Ballack (another issue here; see below) at the center while Podolski and Schweinsteiger either feed him the ball or they are more than capable enough to try and ram the ball into the goal by themselves. Podolski, a striker by nature, is now a proven deadly assist-er (is there such a word?) who can give dangerous crossing to his teammates. German offense is always dangerous and while they lack the versality of the Spanish team, in terms of capability, it is on par with Spain's.

(But to make up for that horrible defense, Klose, Schweini and Poldi more often than not always sprint up to help Metzelder and Mertesacker protect the goal).

However, in terms of counter attack, I have to say that Spain wins here. The Spanish attttacccckkkkkkkk while the Germans sometimes may adopt a "let's wait" approach (see Croatia and Turkey game) in their worst days. I hope that playing a good team would bring the best out of these boys however, like how it did during the Portugal game. Pressure pressure attack. That is how you win.

In midfield, Germany has the fearsome duo of Ballack and Frings. Now, the problem is that Frings' got a rib injury and Ballack is now officially injured. While Frings is more likely able to start the finals, no one knows about Ballack. Personally, I think Ballack would kill to start tonight, especially to prove his critics that he's not always the bridesmaid (after the CL02 finals, WC02 finals, EPL and CL08 finals), and he would love to lead his team to European Glory as best as he can. German midfield with Ballack is thumbs up as the Capitano injects much needed creativity to not only offense but also defense. German midfield without Ballack is... ... well, on one side, it does certainly look bad, but if you look at the silver lining, maybe people like Schweinsteiger (can he be the next Schneider?) and Borrowski may prove their worth in the midfield. If Jogi sticks to 4-5-1, Rolfes would also be there to provide support (and since his forehead has been patched up and stuff) and he's proven his worth in the few games he's started in.

How important is Michael (pronounced as Mi-ka-el, by the way) Ballack anyway?

Well, I don't care what people have said about the silver linings and stuff, none of the players (even Klose, who would take the armband if Ballack can't make it--sorry, Miro, I love you, but that's true) have Ballack's experience and unique ability to command and inspire the field and players, and if Ballack doesn't start tonight, I'd abandon all hope. Ballack is that driving force, that engine that drives the Mannschaft, that gives them their edge. I shudder at what would happen to the team if this engine is taken out. King Micha is that important.

Even if Ballack starts, however, due to his injury and sitting out 2 days worth of training, he wouldn't be at his 100% best. Urrgh, stupid calf injury.

In midfield, Spain has Fabregas (if he starts), Silva, Xavi, Senna and Iniesta. Individually, these players have proven their worth as world class players. As a team, they have proven their worth in this tournament. This is undoubtedly the most dangerous and creative midfield any manager can ever dream of and Germany would have to work extra extra hard to contain them. By the way, they also have the tendency to flip between forward and midfield roles really well to confuse opponents and all of them are proven goal scorers. 'Nuff said.

In defense, Germany has the excellent Lahm who while in the Turkey game showed that he's better at goal scoring than defending (he's usually not that sloppy by the way--still one of the best left backs in the business), should be enough to try and stop the Torres (and/or Guiza) attempts while supporting the offense. Friedrich was able to take down Ronaldo so I expect him to continue his good work! The problem is the center backs--Metzelder and Mertesacker, who are not the solid walls they are supposed to be. Cristoph, is that thick beard preventing you from being the supposedly good defender you are? Leave the offense to the more than capable guys down there (aka please dont play 'winger' again) and just stay there in front of Mad Jens and steal any ball that tries to come in!

Spain has Puyol and Ramos, proven solid walls. I hope, hopehopehopehope Klose and co can even make it past them.

Die Mannschaft is going into the finals as underdogs--I like that. The Germans have no pressure compared to the Spanish who are under "die-die must end this horrible lack of winning curse" pressure. We all know how much these German boys love proving people wrong, and how the underdogs tag work for them. I hope that this factor can help them make it through.

Schweini and Poldi are in excellent form (why can't they be that way in Bayern?) and since the game may be all about who scores first, the German offense needs to start making more chances (3 on shot attempts for the Turkey game; pathetic) and converting them (however, those 3 attempts become the goals for the game). One area that the Germans obviously win here is their mentality. Oh God, these Germans are physically and mentally fit--and that belief, that mental strength is something that every team admires. Turkey as comeback king? Puhlease. The Germans have been doing it since the early 60s. As long as they give their best and posses their Never Say Die attitude, no one's gonna be worried even if they trail 0-2 since history suggests that a miracle would happen.

By the way, Germans never lose out a penalty shootout since their first one against the Czechs. Undaunting, huh? Personally, I'd rather the game end before the shootout (if the Mannschaft is leading) though; Spain is traditionally weak in shootouts, but look at what happened in the quarters. Don't like to take my chances.

Okay, so we have established that Spain is an excellent team. An excellent, underachieving team driven by their 44 year long quest for a silverware. But do not forget that Germany is a tournament team. Critique their play all you want, but you can't help but agree that they are efficient. In Gary Lineker's immortal words: "Football is a simple game with 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win." That is like the Faraday's Law of Football. Spain dazzle you with beautiful playing and long flowing passes (and beautiful men--not saying that the Germans are not easy on the eyes, since they really really are), but Germans do what they do best: they win.

This is an exciting final prospect to an exciting tournament. If the Germans lose, well, hey--we made it this far despite our horrible up-and-down form; congrats, Spain, you finally get your silverware. If the Germans win, all the more better for us German fans (of course, I'd rather them win than lose).

 So while I still think that the Germans have fewer chances of winning (even my dad thinks so, and he's gotten all his predictions right so far), I'll just... yknow, believe.

Belief takes you far. I should know, watching that same belief from eleven men on the field take them through this tournament.

---------------------------------------------

What did I say about the Germans being really easy on the eyes? Oh yeah, they are damn sexy. (:



Bastian Schweinsteiger, Cristoph Metzelder (without his beard) and Lukas Podolski. Fine looking young men with fine skills.

I'm still trying to find a picture of Miroslav Klose, yknow, a glamorous picture of him? Guy is so shy can hardly find off-field pictures of him (though he looks really really fine with a leather jacket in this video clip I saw).



I am sooooo in love with him right now. He looks like Frank Lampard, does he not?



'Course, there is no topless picture of him. Such a good good boy. =D

bring it home, germany!

nach die mannschaft!

first day of school was... school.

oh well.

hopefully this time around i won't be such a screw up in my work anymore.

-------------------------------------------

spain beat italy in the dullest quarter finals game so far which ended in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 stalemate. donadoni goes back to be probably fired and roasted while spain goes on for a rematch with russia in the semis. all i can say to the celebrating spanish is that: guus hiddink can learn from his mistakes (d'oh. he's a frikkin genius). and arshavin is now there for russia. it won't be as easy of a match as it was last time.

apart from a few dives here and there, the more interesting to watch was casillas and buffon each pulling out amazing saves in the game. casillas was the better keeper in the end though, and he outclass world's best goalie this time around.

luca toni had a disappointing euro. oh well; now that klose's scored a goal and him, nil, he's already lost his bet against the german forward!

guus hiddink is currently the happiest, biggest traitor there is on this planet.

as russia demolished the oranje 3-1 today in a game that came alive only after the second half--and it became a real spectacular game indeed--the first thought that came to my mind is that underdogs are the real winners during the quarter finals so far. look at germany vs portugal. germany was undoubtedly the underdog having struggled through their qualification rounds with lousy form ever since the poland game. turkey was always the dark horse, especially against a croatian side that won all their games. so was russia, which lost 4-1 to spain during the first game.

but it turned out that the strong sides that had the advantage of playing their second squad and resting their main players before the quarters lost.

anyway, if a girl is into nerds and geniuses (and soccer), she would most probably want to have guus hiddink's child right now (and bill gates--that one is a classic). he's turned the russian players into stars last night with crazy stamina which totally drained all the oranje players. the netherlands attack in what my dad described as a "monotonous" way that is predictable for hiddink--who coached the netherlands back in 96 himself--who had his russian defense neutralized the oranje offense. russian offense, on the other hand, is just plain crazy. the commentator said "my gosh, how many white shirts were just there at the penalty area?" up to 6 russians would take part in an attempt to get the ball past van der sar (who's retiring from international football. will be missed) with brilliant andrei arshevin orchestrating it.

if this underdog pattern goes on, then italy would find their momentum and beat spain (and david villa can concentrate on which club he wants to go to after this!). i'm a neutral on this (although i quite dislike italy, given their track record with france), but during spain's game against sweden, you can see that this group bloated with huge talents is slowly rearing its ugly head that shows we can't work together! while italy has this track record of screwing up their group stages and then making their way slowly to the crown.

thanks to school, i wouldn't be able to watch this game.

... darn, school's here again.

what the hell is our world coming to?

thai school gets transvestite bathrooms

i know they just want to make the transkids feel welcome and stuff, but this is as if they are encouraging kids to be transvestites. many kids at this age want to be another gender--a soft-spoken boy may feel like he's at home with his girl friends more than the guys, and a few girls are extreme tomboys. instead of letting them grow out of this phase, the school introduces a new path at this young age: be a transvestite/cross dresser; it's okay, we welcome you.

--------------------------------------------------

school's almost here again, and that time of the semester when you look at your timetable for the first time ever and whine is here as well.

i love free periods. i hate them when they come in bunches. what a waste of time.

---------------------------------------------------

rocker stud slaven bilic goes home! turkey, the under-under-underdogs of the tournament, has done their last minute thing again and beat the croatians at penalty shootouts. now, fatih terim's man is gonna face the as-of-now-favorites-again germans. that is, if he can find eleven men to be fielded among the many injuries and suspensions they have.

germany better watch out. this turkey side spends most of their tournament time losing or drawing against a side, and from all the matches they've played so far, they were in a leading position for only three minutes. last time klinsmann's germany went out of semis in world cup after last minute goals from a determined italy. jogi can't let that happen anymore.

(metzelder better stop pretend-playing winger and start acting more like a CB. i think ballack actually defended better than him during the portugal game. seriously, german defense was still shitty against scolari's side, but fortunately, portugal's defense was as shitty too. germany just happened to have better offense than portugal; even when jogi fielded klose as the lone striker--surprisingly enough, this formation actually worked).

funny fact first: do you know if you open up a web translator and translate "schweinsteiger" from german to english, you'll get "pig-riser"?

"pig-riser" the portuguese slayer!

--------------------------------------------------

 germany vs portugal
         3                  2

even i thought the germans were a goner against portugal. =X but i guess being the underdog, having euroflop gomez off, having portuguese-slayer schweinsteiger in instead and finally finding their form did wonders for germany. (i am so glad that cr7--ugliest nickname ever, by the way--is packing his suitcase! hah! he can now concentrate doing whatever he wants to entice real and anger ferguson away from the tournament) maybe portugal's "second team bad luck" really did hit them, or like my father (who predicted germany would win, and he's won his predictions all the time so far by the way) who thinks that germany's style of play is not like how portugal likes it. 

but seriously, it was a great, great game that would even push any neutrals to the edge of their seats. germany's finally found their form and they played that style of football that i fell in love with (flowing, passing game--guess why i like arsenal as well?), together with that gritty determination and attitude (as well as great hair--noticed lots of them went for a haircut before the euros ^^?). maybe the lack of pressure that comes from being big favorites is not so there anymore after their disappointing performance against croatia (a good thing coming outta a bad thing!). 

they finally start pressurising (or at least try to) when the ball is in portugal's possesion and the defending was great (except for metzelder... not really convinced by his performance--especially when he goes around pretending to be a winger + tries to dive). lehmann was great despite those two goals (wow o.O). podolski was quite this match (but that assist was great!) as schweini, ballack and klose took the limelight. 

tim borowski is so tall, it's just plain freaky.

but i think the one that's ought to be in the limelight is c.ronaldo. he can be a hollywood actor after his football career is over--a slight push against his toes and he fell down to the round, looked around for the referee and then start wailing and howling and shaking in pain. delayed and overly animated reaction for the lose.

right.

portugal played really rough today. i didn't count how many yellows were given out 'cause there were a frickin' lot. for portugal, by the way. and they are great great divers and actors. well, lots of people say (quite crudely) that portugal loses because their players played solo and for their own glory, as well as having a bad "i'm the best" attittude and plays to the crowd instead of for the team (wait... this is sounding lots and lots like cristiano ronaldo)--which is so unlike the germans, who are well-known as a team with great chemistry. since my brother is a portugese supporter, i shan't say horrible things about them but i can't say i disagree with that saying.

besides, two of that horrible fouls (especially a worrying one on klose) gave schweinsteiger two chances at free kicks which were headed in by klose and ballack for a goal each. (:

(and there is that controversy about ballack pushing around when he headed in the ball. should the ball be disallowed? i don't think so--pushing and shoving always happened inside the penalty box during a set piece anyway. it is a testerone-charged game, and ballack did not push really hard--not as hard as other portuguese players do on germans. did you see that tackle on fritz? ouch).

right now though, i'm just hoping that the germans got out of the portugal game without much bruises and injuries and could play against croatia/turkey at this level as well.

klose finally scores (i guess he's too old to flip right now, huh?). and scolari probably now wants to call schweinsteiger in chelsea since schweini's played real class and shown portugal the door during the last two encounters between the two national teams. if bastian's got an offer to play in epl, that's great, but i'd rather he stay in bayern--if he wants to move to epl, i'd only want to see him in arsenal (;

germany's next match would be against either dark horse turkey or another chance with croatia to set things right in the semi finals. 

all the way, das manschafft! 

(my god, i love these boys!)

----------------------------------------------------------

CHEEK STILL SWOLLEN. I HATE THESE WISDOM TEETH!

that's the word that comes to my mind when i see my face in the mirror: puffer fish. i can hardly recgonize myself! it's as if i've puffed my cheeks and they stay that way permanently--two big blobs reminiscent that of the cheeks of a hamster stuck on my cheeks. i actually believed my cheeks would continue expanding and explode while watching the french match this morning. well, it hadn't exploded, but it sure as hell just became even bigger. 

now my new best friend and a permanent fixture at my face landscape is an icepack. it hasn't really done its job well though, since my cheeks are still swollen beyond recgonition. 

------------------------------------------------

les bleus packed their suitcases as they exited the euros in the most pathetic way possible.

oh god, this is such a waste of my new french euro 08 replica jersey with benzema's name on it. it cost us a fortune, damn it, and now there's no match i can wear it for until the WC10 qualifying rounds begin.

what raymond domenech's side has achieved during the euros: a draw and two miserable losses. that sums up to one measly point. and one goal when they were spanked 4-1 by the netherlands. and an injured ribery, and a red carded abidal. and three people retiring from international football when their swansong is as ugly as this one: thuram, makelele and sagnol. and probably coupet as well. 

as usual, the french's offense was as blunt as a butter knife when they were fielded today. so was the italian's, but they were the one receiving the benefits of a penalty and a free kick that were to their advantage. when ribery went out, that little hope was snuffed out since even as nasri played (for a little while until he was subbed out) when the midfield just went dead. at the end of the first half, france had exactly 0 on-goal shots. 

they played a little bit more agressively during the second half, but that wasn't enough to undo the damage. a few nice shots from benzema and henry, but that's it. the referee blew the whistle, and italy's made their way to the quarter finals as romania tumbled against netherlands. 

who's to blame here? well, obviously it's raymond domenech, but he's already making a joke of himself. guy can't manage a team brimming with world class talents and let it all go to a horrible waste. one good thing that came out of this is of course, he's gonna be fired. and we get to go watch donadoni's team go against spain and most probably gets spanked really bad. 

here's to seeing an all new french squad at WC10 with fresh talents and missed out ones like ben arfa, trezeguet, mexes... and with a new coach.

and now, i'm eagerly waiting for news on raymond domenech's employment (not marital) status.

it wasn't one bloody wisdom tooth! it was FOUR!

the taking out of the teeth wasn't that painful since the dentist, an old friend of my dad's, was super high tech and pumped me lots of anesthesis but after that, my cheeks were swollen and my mouth was numb and i can hardly gurgle or speak. it's much better now (great, i missed the germany game 'cause i was sleeping off the pain) but thanks to the stitches in my mouth, i still can't open my mouth without inducing myself pain.

oh god, why did thee maketh the wisdom teeth?

(well, an explanation is that last time, when human beings don't brush their teeth, their teeth fall out but thanks to wisdom teeth, they still have some spares back there. now, people know basic hygiene and so we don't need these wisdom teeth, especially as our jaws get smaller). 

it's better to get them out when you're young than doing it when you're older anyway. so kids, go get your dose of pain from the dentist--it would spare you the pain and embarassment when you're grown up, and the pain would make you all grown up man (or woman).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

germany through the group stage and into the quarters!

thanks to ballack's unbelievable free kick, while gomez had another dismal performance (wasting another chance from klose!) and the germans actually not having a good performance either. they want to face portugal and live? better buck up. 

one funny moment is when joachim loew got sent off along with the austrian coach as they were bickering. hehe. but it's not so funny if he's gonna get banned from the field during the game against the portugal.

and just because i feel like it:

the boys playing basketball during their training camp last month. apparently, they made quite a basketball team as well.

and now, onto the drama that is group C. 

on y croit, les bleus. allez!

i was confirmed yesterday with 113 other people in my church by the archbishop of singapore. after practically six long years, finally: confirmation. which is a catholic sacrament to strengthen one's faith and let him accept the holy spirit.

so now, my name is officially (not that officially though, since it's not printed on my birth cert) is alexandra corette intan krishanty wirayadi. phew, what a handful.

last week of holiday is here, and finally i get to go somewhere: currently writing this in jakarta now--our home here now finally keeps up with the rest of the world after my dad installed a broadband wire. urgh, downside is i gotta go for teeth surgery after this; gotta pluck out my wisdom tooth. i'm trying to prepare myself for the pain. eeeekkkk...

i don't know how long the pain will last--my parents assure me there will be none while divya said that her maid took days to recover from it. well, my brother wants to drag me to play futsal (ie. street soccer) and i don't think i'd be able to play with the pain throbbing in my mouth. maybe that's a good thing, since so far, the people who have played futsal with my brother had gotten a swollen ankle, twisted knee, fractured thumb, internal injury... looking at the injuries after they played, it's as if they played wrestling, not futsal.

--------------------------------------------

i've been having a lot of nightmares that involve this huge carp kissing me. URGH. that, and watching germany and france trashed by austria and italy respectively

huge, smell, ugly carp. 

i hate fish. 

--------------------------------------------

spain won sweden 2-1, but i gotta tell you that sweden was the better team the entire play. without abrahamovic their offense may be dulled, but their defense was sparkling superb, and the disorganized spanish couldn't crack it until david villa found his bearing at extra time (is it me, or there's quite some extra time goals being scored here in the euros this year?) and that was when half the swedes or more were contesting the referee for a challenge.

i knew portugal would lose to switzerland, who now had nothing to lose at their final game anyway--much like the portuguese. scolari would obviously rest his stars and send out his second team and they lost out to the determined swiss. turkey's game was a surprise though--i know that the czechs are not really who they could be without rosicky, but petr cech--still one of the best goalkeepers in the world--lost out to the turks, who let themselves in into the quarter finals. congrats.

anyway, my dad said that in football, there's a certain risk involved when playing your second team 'cause if they lose, the bad luck may actually claim the entire team--he is a total believer of "never change the winning team" (hear that, jogi? put the germany WC06 team back on--without schneider and schweinsteiger, but still...!). i won't say much on this since i'm not as superstitious as raymond domenech, but i can't help but to cross my finger--see, if germany survived group b as runner ups, they would go against portugal and if this second team bad luck could play a part, it's just a huge advantage. 

i don't know if germany could beat austria since right now austria seemed good and germany... lousy. well, if poland beat croatia by a huge margin and germany beat austria by a huge margin, there is a chance the germans can reclaim top spot of group b and fight the turks next. but if austria beat them, jogi and team would have to pack their suitcase.

same goes to france. gargh i hate counting on another team's results but if van basten's second team (it's a conspiracy theory i tell you!) can't beat the romanians (very very likely to me), then two world cup finalists' euro dreams are dashed. but as long as the tricolor is beaten or drawn against (very very hard, seeing their shell like defense which the netherlands seemed to be unable to break), then france and italy have a chance. 

les bleus vs azurri. this is a die-die match, and since the netherlands-romania game is played at the same time as well, they have no way of knowing whether their euro dream is still alive and regardless of how the first game is going, they would play their best, if only to claim their pride, which had been trampled on by the oranje and the tricolor. donadoni and domenech wouldn't be able to sleep tonight as well, since tomorrow is their day of judgement: whether they will still have a job after the tournament, or not.

let's say france or italy gets through to be the runner up of the group of death (please let it be france). then domenech/donadoni would have to pray really hard that spain's second team (all these coaches do not believe in "never change the winning team!" well, resting your stars is important too, but...) would lose to a greek side that is already out of the tournament and that this match might turn to be a portugal-switzerland one, and then for sweden to defeat russia by a huge huge margin. then france/italy would have to play sweden and get ready for spain/netherlands again.

well, france lost 4-1, and i didn't feel a single thing after the entire game. i was numb--i was at that stage way far beyond despair and depression. well, seriously, given how the dutch played and how the french played, a loss wouldn't be such a surprise. however,a 4-1 win was just BLOODY HELL.

we got trashed as bad as the russians got trashed under the spanish. except that france is a top 10 team, a world cup finalist, a way better team than russia with so much talent. and still got trashed.

there were so many mistakes i don't know where to start. fact that the defense line was so old that while the players used to be good, they are just not anymore, especially when faced against the youth and zest of the dutch offensive line. fact that the france team, a traditional offensive powerhouse, stood helplessly when the ball was not on their possesion and counted on counter attack most of the time (and although this changed in the second half, it was forty five minutes too late). fact that the french offense line couldn't work well to score. or we can blame the referee, like what domenech said: the loss of a penalty had caused france to lose all their will to play well (bull**i*).

all these mistakes, however, can be grouped under one big header, that is:

raymond domenech

he is not a coach that france needs right now. he cannot identify their problems, insisting on building up the defense (not like it even ended well) when one can play something that resembles total football which means attack goddamn it just attackkkkk! which totally puts good use of the french players. i mean, damn it, people like makelele, evra and even gallas can play a bloody part in the offense even while defending well and domenech's formation means that they can't be too offensive. he cannot properly harness the huge talent the 23 men ooze on his squad. he loves loves loves old people (see: govou subbed by anelka. whywhywhy?), and while experience may count, these old people are just way past their prime. and talking about people who are way past their prime, check out henry, fumbling chances and totally not making himself useful until that one goal he made. compare today henry to arsenal henry. you just want to cry out of pity for that guy.

domenech wants counter attack, then he should go check out the dutch, who retaliated after henry's goal so fast that while the tv just finished replaying henry's goals, the oranje had netted in a third goal. hope has never been snuffed out so fast.

domenech is traditional, refusing to change a formation he believes in despite being criticized heavily for it (and in the end, making pathetic changes to it). people still dont forgive him for missing out on david trezeguet and phillipe mexes, but even if i forgive him for that, he cannot even properly pick out the correct people on the squad as well as the proper substitute.

no more zidane to kick up magic to cover up domenech's mistakes like he did in world cup now. well, maybe there is now a samir nasri, but domenech's lack of use of him (especially in yesterday's game) is going to be a real job hazard, isn't it?

france's barely there hopes now lie on the romania and netherlands match. if the dutch can at least hold the romanians to a stalemate, then there is hope for france and italy, who will have to win to get pass the group of death. but history proves that the romania is a tough team to reckon with and the best netherlands had done is to hold them at a goalless draw. romania plays to draw--their key strategy has been defensedefensefrikkingdefense, and this "defend and draw" game might actually earn them a qualification to the quarters.

let's say the dutch continued their good form and at least held the romanians to a draw. and france beat italy. by how the spain game against sweden is going right now, they'd end up top of the group. and then, if france wins italy, and barely gains qualification to the quarters, guess who they have to play next?

straight from the burning pot to the stove.

if there is one good thing out of what had and may happen to france, then it's probably the fact that domenech, like his italian counterpart donadoni, is going to find himself unemployed really, really soon.

i don't usually revel in others' misery, but this one will be an exception.

been frickin' pissed the entire day. then again, if your favorite team not only lost, but played crap football, you probably would too.

croatia 2, germany 1

by the time croatia scored in the 26th minute, germany hardly attempted anything against the croatian goalkeeper. my brother and father were asleep by the time the second goal went in, and i don't blame them. it was a horrible game--it was a france-romania game, maybe even worse since germany conceded two goals.

what croatia did right:

1. played agressive football that may not be very easy on the eyes, but hey, it worked.

2. their defense was shit-tight after they scored their first goal. second goal was a consolation.

3. modric seemed to be more motivated than the entire german team.

4. tactics. what you can't make up in talents, you make up in tactics. and luck has it, joachim loew had his off-day. slaven bilic has his men playing in a football style that is obviously uncomfortable to the germans, stealing their passes and pressuring them whenever one of the germans had the ball. their defense was reminscent that of romania in their opening game--hard to crack.

5. not only that, slaven bilic realised that germans played their offensive through their left. he did something about that, and it was something right that subdued the already frustated germans.

what germany did wrong:

1. two strikes for mario gomez, and i vote for him to get out (despite it's usually three strikes, and.... whatever). he fumbled passes, lost possesion too easily, didnt create or make use of chances, and i didn't really see it, but the commentator said that klose would have gotten a goal in if gomez didn't push someone in the penalty box or something. he's had two chances to blow us away, and all he did is blow these chances.

2. odonkor. i was screaming at the tv (though jogi of course couldnt hear me. damn) that please sub gomez out for neuville, or sub schweinsteiger in for gomez to take over podolski's left wing position, and then let podolski play CF. but no, it was odonkor for jansen (also not a very convincing performance from him last night), and i was like WTF. odonkor didn't prove himself; there was this one time when schweinsteiger powered the ball in and the keeper deflected it to the right, where there was a momentary lack of defenders, and if odonkor had been there instead of stoning in the midfield, he could kick the ball in. 

3. kuranyi. uhm, did he even contribute anything when he was out there on the field? why not sub in neuville? i mean, i may be biased and stuff, but i think neuville of some kind of last minute secret weapon deployed when you need a goal really badly, because he can provide that.

4. germans played like they had huge hangover, sluggish, and their passes, from the midfield towards the last third of the field, were awful. didn't help it that croatians marked them like crazy as well. ballack and klose didnt have a spectactular game last night.

5. as said before, playing by the left all the time is very predictable. there is a right side that can be exploited, (without odonkor, please) without schneider it might be hard and all, but maybe it's worth a try?

6. schweinsteiger was a great sub. really, he was. he made an impact (unlike odonkor and kuranyi), creating a few chances as well as helping the offense to pressurise the croatians more. he really made an impact however, when he whacked jerko lerko and earned himself a red card. i love the guy, but i was mad at him for doing that--he is a great player as he is always out for offense, and he's just gotten himself banned from two matches. let's put it his way, if germany's runner up in the group, and portugal the winner of group a, then we are facing portugal for quarter finals. 

who scored for portugal when the germans faced them in world cup third placing match? schweinsteiger. twice. and assisted an own goal. while maybe he wouldn't score this time around, but having this portugese-slayer would certainly be a moral boost. but we'd never know, would we, now?

7. hey, if we injure lehmann, and he can't play, then jogi would have to call up a new player, won't he--like hildeband? he's got some good moments, especially saving that shot at the early moments of the second half, but these two goals are partly his fault. arsene wenger said that lehmann doesn't have what it takes to perform for germany. agreed?

8. temper control. germany's earned themselves three yellow cards this time 'round (one of them giving schweini a red), and while it's not as bad as croatian four yellow cards, it's definitely not a good thing, since if ballack loses his temper ever again, we'd be without our inspirational captain.

9. pressure control? maybe the huge pressure of being favorites finally got to them. everyone tipped Das Manschafft to spank croatia, which didnt sparkle against austria. well, who spanked who now?

what germany did right:

1. i thought phillip lahm had a good game. the little guy really did try his best to subdue the agressive croatian offense and counter attack, as well as doing his part for the german offense by diving in deep to feed the ball to the forwards. 

2. schweinsteiger was good as well. until the red card thing. but i think we learnt something from this: the WC06 formation is sacred. is good. poldi, klose in front, schweini (well, we cant use him anymore now, can we?), ballack, frings at their old WC06 positions as well as lahm at left back. poldi did score after he's changed back to CF. 

3. podolski. he and everyone else up front kept trying again and again and again, and his ball finally found the net. unfortunately for him, it wasnt enough.

at least austria and poland drew; this meant that germany's still unchallenged as the second team in the group. just a draw (a win, please) against austria would do. but austria is a tough side now, isn't it, since it's now inspired by a free lifetime supply of beer for each player that scores?

-----------------------------------------

i really don't want to watch france-netherlands game. i have a REAL bad feeling about this. maybe it's because it's friday the 13th. maybe because HEY NETHERLANDS SPANKED THE WORLD CUP WINNER 3-0 AND FRANCE DREW AGAINST ROMANIA?! and news that domenech is refusing to change his formation. 

but of course, i will. and i hope that it won't leave me in pieces like the germany-croatia game did last night.

i've been so beat up these past few days the only thing i can do is: wake up, eat, swim, watch soccer, sleep. and the cycle repeats itself day after day. i can't believe how fast the holiday's gone by--gargh, i don't wanna go back to school with all its related stress and problems!

my sister is in philiphines. for obs. apparently, she's one of the first batch chosen to undergo her obs in the archipelago country. the future leader, she is--band major, student councillor exco, go-girl for so many teachers who non-stop call her day after day to do this and that. a bit worried because these teachers have gone a bit over the line; my sis worked herself sick and her holiday's pretty much non existent, and this work hasn't stopped since the academic semester and will probably eat into it as well, which resulted in her having no studying time and getting really lousy results last semester.

anyway, this post consists of the following, with the content of each header hidden under the cut (click to access it!):

les bleus's opening blues

as a france fan, i was thoroughly embarrassed by this match. everyone i know fell asleep watching it. my dad, a recently former france fan, has renounced his loyalties (to none other than holland and spain) after watching it. it's been called "90 minutes of ugly". i call it "utter pain and nonsense".

0-0. i had the sick feeling in my guts that it's gonna be the score right after the first half. slow pace. lazy midfielders. interrupted passes. practically non-existent offense. i'm not talking about romania; i'm talking about les bleus--one of the tournament favorites, and one of the greatest football team in the world.

where, oh where should i start?


in 1954, the west germans created history during the world cup, hosted in switzerland that time, by defeating invincible and much fancied hungarians despite being first timers in the tournament. the miracle of berne, that's what the incident is now known as. berne is the city where france would face off huge favorites holland, and while the stadium has been rebuilt, this may be the site of a new miracle, if france plays their cards right--and with a little bit of luck.

henry, benzema, ribery, makelele... these may be the stuff new legends are made of.

oranje triumphs azurri

best game so far (followed closely by spain vs russia and germany vs poland). we had two of the world's best goalkeepers in buffon and van der sar who seem to be magnets for the ball--they can attract and repel ball away at their will--and two "mad"men with such an affinity for shooting and scoring in luca toni and van nistelrooy all in one field. which side will prevail? the experienced veterans italy has, or the enthusiastic--but criticized for being prone to disorganized--youths of holland?

the dutch prevailed 3-0 over the world cup finalists in an earth shattering game in a stadium painted orange and blue. the dutch's excellent performance has convinced many people--including me--that they have what it takes to actually go all the way. but looking back at history, netherlands has been prone to inconsistency despite the many talents and stars they have in their squad. while they may go out of the group stages--even if france beats/draws with them, they almost certainly will beat romania--there is still a long way to go in the tournament, which may include meeting with spain (exciting, eh?)


spain leaves king midas flabbergasted

i was actually expecting a russian win this time around, because guus hiddink is known as king midas for something--whatever he touches turns to gold. however, this russian team didn't shine as spain spanked them 4-1--and hiddink could only blame his team for "being stupid; a high school team can do better than them".


all theatrical dives and play: portugal vs czech republic
aka. another cristiano ronaldo rant.

a game that is marred by too many suspicious dives... well, it ended well for maradonna cristiano ronaldo and co. i was hoping for a draw between the two giants of group A so as to make the next match more interesting in a "damn it, we're desperate for the bloody points!" way, but portugal has now qualified for the quarters and czech republic would have to fight on against turkey to keep their cup hope alive.

don't have much to say; not exactly my favorite game since bodies kept on falling and rolling around the ground (it wasn't only the portuguese players), and it was not per se, as exciting as watching the germans or dutch, italians or spanish play. petr cech is probably berating himself in his hotel room, but it wasn't his fault--it was his defenders for having such big and crucial lapses in front of the goal.

meanwhile, while wearing the white away portuguese jersey, ronaldo has made another attempt at raising his already high wage by dangling the real shit again: apparently he likes wearing white jerseys more than red ones.

pathetic, ronaldo, pathetic. and i'm not the only one who thinks that you are an over-rated selfish diving player.

and klose has been comparing podolski to ronaldo and thinks that poldi is better than him. beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but since 99.99999% of people only know who ronaldo is and only watch epl, i think his comment would be met with much criticism. all i can say is that podolski has his share of sparkling moments and inconsistency, but he's played far too little during the season to be assessed--who knows, if he actually manages more playing time in any club he plays in next, he may prove klose true.

HEY i have an idea: man united can sell maradonna hotshot boy away and buy podolski. let's see what will happen.

germany on fire, or in trouble? croatia vs germany preview

michael ballack reckons that des manschafft ought to step it up if they want to fight stronger squads. if you read my last post, you'll see that i agree with him all the way. germany problem remains in the not-so-tested defense, and this time around, maybe even how the offense can squander chances away. klose was still not at his best form during the game and gomez--maybe the stage fright got to him--was far from being splendid. 'course, podolski and maybe schweinsteiger (that is, if jogi keeps the same formation) can create more chances for them. point is, poland is (i say this with respect) not as good as a team as croatia, which can expose the german defense as well as subdue the offense. however, this game against croatia can also set the level germany ought to play their game on--much like stepping stones, one game against better opponents gradually can make a winning team.

last time i was overly negative about germany's chances, they won; and when i was overly positive about france's chances, they drew. i guess i should just stop saying much and just ... have faith. believe in joachim loew, believe in michael ballack, and in miroslav klose and bastian schweinsteiger (on or off bench), and lukas podolski and phillip lahm, and clement fritz and torsten frings and...

well, believe in des manschafft's will and desire, and hunger for victory. it had ended the twelve year winless euros streak, and it might just take them through the necessary steps to finally clinch that fourth title.

arsenal's transfer saga: now featuring david villa

summer always brings the drama of transfer sagas. any big club is always linked to any big player even if they have no intention of snapping the player up and no one can know which statement is actually true or not. players and their agents may want to leave their current club so badly they do all kinds of stuff (for example, alexander hleb's and his ice-cream incident, as well as his proclamation that london is too noisy for him) while clubs may play dirty to get their players, like using newspapers to overpublicise and spin exaggerated stories of they clinching the players they want (c.ronaldo's case is one, as well as adebayor's). some other players want to increase their wage by dangling the transfer bait over their employers' head (see c.ronaldo and adebayor as well).

while star players like cesc fabregas, jens lehmann (already on his way to stuggart. byebye) emmanuel adebayor and alexander hleb (just go already, hleb) are constantly linked to other european giants, arsenal's managed to snap up some big guns as well. or at least, supposedly so.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my gosh, i cant believe how long it took me to write this post. -.-

in this post: sjwp recap, germany-poland match analysis recap, and a little bit of preview for france-romania.

--------------------------------------------------------------

first things first. we (aaron, darren, me) got the merit prize today in the inaugural SJWP. 6 teams from different schools (two teams from our school qualified) presented today in front of the national committee board and i can tell you it was a really gruelling process. all 6 teams presented really groundbreaking stuff--wow, i was really blown away--and in the end, a team from our school with rajashi roy and shaw young had won the first prize.

which by the way, entitled them to $5000 and a trip to stockholm, sweden, all expense paid. we got ten times less than them, and well, we didn't get to go to sweden. but they deserved it. congrats, guys!

now, from my experience from nwsp and sjwp, i can tell you that when you enter this kind of competition (we're not talking about ssef, that's an entirely different thing), simple and clean is the way to go. huge scientific stuff will finally lose out to how applicable the project ultimately is. begin with the end in mind. that's one of life's greatest values to be learnt.

anyway, i wanna thank aaron and darren for a really enriching semester doing this project; not everyone gets to confront their worst fear (in my case, fish) in daily basis, and still have tons of fun doing so. we may have lost, but we gained tons of experience from this. sweden or no sweden, i never regret taking up this project. (: never will.

----------------------------------------------------------------

and now: soccer! again, first things first:

all hail prince poldi!

and

happy birthday miroslav klose!

before i go on, let me say the austria game was joke. not to austria, but to croatia. apart from the early 4th minute lead from the penalty, the rest of the game--especially the second half--was actually glorifying austria, not embarassing them. for a third-tier team, austria was supposed to be trashed, spanked, and bawling on the ground like a helpless baby. instead, they, like the co-host switzerland, put up a good fight. an awesome fight that gave the croatians trouble--and croatia is supposedly a great football squad. clinging on by 1-0 is all they can do? this means: good job to austria. so much for the ten thousand plus people who've signed the petition for austria to resign from the euros--hey, your country stands a chance!

anyway, unto the game. germany beat poland, which was to many punters' relief. 2-0. not bad, huh? (are you seeing the pattern where the first games are won by 1-0 and the second game of the day by 2-0? should you start betting that today's and tomorrow's games would follow the same pattern? seeing france is playing the second one today, i certainly hope so--for france's advantage lah, not romania!).

i got the shock of my life (more than how i'm still shocked by bastian schweinsteiger's blindingly blond hair) when i saw lukas podolski--and still spotted miroslav klose and mario gomez on the starting eleven. my first thought was what? three strikers up front? what happened to 4-4-2? then i realised blindingly blond bastian (i love the guy. really. but even now, that hair...) wasn't up there on the field, so i was like whoa. what i was joking about in previous posts is actually happening. poldi's taken over schweini's job!

(the repercussion is big: poldi's such a good left winger jogi might just want him to stay up there, and schweini, who may not always end up as right winger, may find himself warming the bench not just for the national team, but maybe also bayern munich's if klinsmann also finds use for poldi at the left next season. unless poldi moves to epl. or schweinsteiger moves to wender bremen. i hope not, though; i like my bayern intact, thanks).

anyway, poldi didn't disappoint. 2 goals, boom boom boom. wrapped things up for germany, who was under pressure to lift das manschafft out of the bleak euro campaign curse they've been having since they last won in 96. other good things to say about the game included the fact that the pace the germans played last night felt like the fastest among the four games so far, and a big scale brawl between the poles and the germans didn't break out (except for the occasional booing by the poles fan on podolski, and how the opposition mistreated him--the poles were really rough yesterday in terms of fouls). and klose and gomez and poldi didn't really fall for the quite-shabbily-set-up offside trap--still a lot of offsides, but it could have been worse.

i'm happy about the game--i couldn't sleep after that!--but i'm not about to overlook a few stuff in between just because of that. "the germans can go all the way! yay!", according to so many newspapers. an omen? maybe. but not until jogi fixed some stuff up.

defense. defensedefensedefense. fine, it looked pretty okay this morning, but then again, they were facing a lone striker and a quite weak offense from the poles and the attention was mostly on poldi and co tearing the poles defense to bits and pieces. lahm and mertesacker was on quite an excellent form today, and ballack can marshall up last minute defense as usual. lehmann finally had a little bit more affinity towards the ball, but if it's anything, i would say that the luckiest guy in today's match was mad jens himself.

first forty seconds, the poles could have scored. if they had, things would be different, because we are talking about psychological effects here. lehmann screwed up. ball went up high, and thankthankthank god. threat had passed and the germans regained possession, but there were a few more times when the ball dangerous got way too close to the german net and lehmann could only hopelessly pray and pray it wouldn't go in. god loves him today, and it didn't. however, to be fair to lehmann, he'd made quite a number of nice saves which we certainly want to see more in the upcoming matches. against bigger opponents, the german defence is gonna be up for a dissection as easily as they cut through their opponent's and lehmann wouldn't play a passive role like he did today.

the midfield was excellent, especially torsten frings. always an asset, and he and captain ballack helped make life easier for the strikers to work. people would complain about gomez messing up quite a bit of chances--yeah, he did, i didn't deny that. but he didn't screw up that bad; all in all, he was useful (most... no... some times?), and once he'd gotten the hang of performing with the national team on the big stage, i'm sure he'd be the scary stuggart striker everyone feared in bundesliga last season.

schweinsteiger earned germany's first yellow card after he got on for fritz, but he made himself useful, spreading the german offense into a four way attack that finally ended up with another goal from podolski. i think jogi's basketball training for the germans is actually fruitful; fewer fouls this time 'round, though i see a few dives here and there (urgh, i really hate dives; diving is for cristiano ronaldos).

there's quite a few problems about cashing chances into actual goals. if they did, germany would get a well deserved 4-0 or more. gomez can take most of the blame, klose's missed a few shots as well. meh. timing would have to be right, as well as more accuracy in passing.

and a sprinkle of luck.

beautiful thing about german football is that their team unity is so good it's to the point they're like brothers already (except for frings and klose; last i heard, they still hate each other's guts?). do you see them celebrating their goals? podolski's lacks the usual festivity and hurrah as he is being a really sweet sensitive boy about scoring against his homeland, but as usual, like all german goals more often than not, this morning's ended up with the players crowding together that leaves girls' imagination run wild just spells out the bond between these guys. what? other teams do that too, and that it's a normal thing to do? but they totally lack the... the... the emotion that just connects with us every time these boys bond.

i don't know how to explain. well, i hope the following pictures can help.



"spiritual brothers", the commentator called them. i agree thoroughly.

anyway, podolski. 11th goal in 11th euro appearance. looks like you can start announcing your shoe size so they can taylor the golden shoe to fit you already. keep on scoring, move germany up, and that shoe is yours, lukas.

klose had an awesome game yesterday as well. there were a few times he could have scored, but he is just so unselfish! it's really really cute (and the mark of a great player and all--which some people, like ronaldo, should learn), but miro, score next time you have the chance to, okay? super mario gomez didn't eat his magic mushroom yesterday and you should have notched a few more goals for your record. don't forget the bet with luca toni; guy's all firing up for netherlands game today, and you don't want to lose to him, don't cha (although whatever amount you bet is just gonna be spare change to your bloated wallet)?

miro will probably end up with a top assist record if germany can go all the way, but i'd much rather see him compete with poldi for the boot. his birthday today is marked with germany's first victory, which he, however, didn't score in. but there's still time--especially against a croatia squad that seems very sleepy (is it because the austria game was supposed to be very easy?). scorescorescore, klose!

i really wanna see you flip again.

-------------------------------------------------



austria and switzerland have their fan-mile; i have my two meter long fan-wall! mhmmm... i really want to know what my mom would say tomorrow when she sees her room after being away in jakarta for so long.


i don't have my france jersey for tonight, so a france shirt would have to do. italy and netherlands are a must watch, while france gets off "easy", per say, by facing off against the "weakest" squad of the group of death. but romania canNOT be jeered at, and a vieira-less and henry-less france must win this game in order to keep morale high to try and go a step further than they did in world cup. benzema-anelka are most likely gonna start as strikers; gomis may have made waves with his impressive national debut, but after much thinking (and reading the offside blog), i think that yes, he's too green for such a major competition just yet. he can sub in for benzema or anelka later on, but definitely not start. defense without vieira is a scary thought, but thuram and gallas may pull it off, coupled with makelele and toulalan who are always a big help.

just like poldi, this match is benzema's chance to shock the opponent and impress everyone else (and scare the socks off italy and netherlands =D).



oh yes, karim and franck have bonded. there is much to fear, group c!

gosh, i've just totally killed that phrase after using it twice for post titles. this time, i'm actually referring to GERMANY'S FIRST MATCH IN EUROS! i am so psyched, every molecule in my body seems to be vibrating (no, really; i've been jumping up and down the entire day because of that).

anyway, final preparation for an awesome fan showdown tonight:
1. crazily decorated room? check (and now with the addition of a hand painted french poster featuring benzema, ribery, and henry!)
2. german jersey? check. (it's WC06 one though, since my dad hasn't come back to s'pore to give me the current one).
3. face paint? nope. (does anyone know where to buy face paint?)
4. snacks? cheetos! (i'm so gonna gain weight after this).

i watched the opening ceremony yesterday (really really cute =D i especially love their balloon like costume thing they had on) and after that the switzerland vs czech republic match. if there's one thing i can tell you after the match--which the swiss lost--is that i am now totally supporting the swiss for Group A.

why? because:

1. i will never ever ever ever never support portugal (for those who do, please note that cristiano ronaldo is one man, not eleven--him + deco + the new star pepe wouldn't really make up for an inexperienced young fledging team).

2. i wouldn't support czech too. because rosicky isn't there and he's the only cute guy there because they're i quote: "germany's bogey side". they trashed germany 4-0 in qualifying, which is maybe because the germans aren't really interested in the match since they already secured qualification by then (and may i remind you, they were the first team to do so), but still, putting four pass the germans is still a really amazing task. by amazing, i (a germany fan) mean scary. so if they get past group A and meet with germany, it is an uncertain battle.

3. swiss players are cute. love alexander frei (my heart goes out to frei and hopes he can recover in time to push the co-host into fighting form).

4. for a supposedly inferior team, the swiss dominated the match. if you see the stats, the swiss had more shots, more possession, and the ball was mostly played on the swiss' half of the field. if petr cech wasn't, well, petr cech, the swiss would already have gained lead from the beginning. but damn that best goalkeeper in the world! and petr cech or no petr cech, if the swiss had that penalty (stupid referee), they would have most likely scored an equaliser. and if the czechs weren't so rough (god, the fouls they did; 21 fouls to swiss' 17), alex frei would still be there, maybe cashing in on his really good attempts.

and portugal won turkey 2-0. so much for being a dark horse in my book, turkey. i expected better. like throwing a huge tantrum when you conceded the second goal at the frikking extra time. as i've always believed: soccer is good. drama that spawns off soccer is even better.

germany game today! eeeekkk! unlike the many editors in the newspaper, i actually think this match ain't gonna be an easy one for germany (i really hate it when people just go "hey, that team is more famous. they'll win." use your brain and analyse the two teams, their records and their players first, damn it). germany vs poland. 3 time euros winner vs a team that just finally qualified. you'd think this is a no brainer? i beg to differ.

1. german d e f e n s e.
i've said it, and i'll say it again: german defense is leaky; as leaky as my air-con. usually you're preoccupied with the strikers making short work of the opponent's defense so you don't really say anything about the defense. but see how fast a good team can slice through german defense (like italy. world cup. like last two minutes. two goals.) and you know there's a problem there. metzelder, mertesacker, lahm, jansen. they are good players on paper, but despite being great players, you don't get the kind of defense ... italy has (okay, that's a bit farfetched). or greek has. then again, my main problem has always been the great inconsistent mad jens. jens lehmann. jogi recgonizes that too and has been trying to fix that problem by going back to basics: the players have been practicing by backpassing a lot to him, and maybe his magnetism for the europass can finally increase (if he blames any conceded goal on that ball again...). he's a great 'keeper and all, but i've always preferred hildeband. who isn't even on the bloody squad because jogi is scared lehmann would kick up a locker room drama about who wears the no 1 shirt again. oh, lehmann....

2. the poles are not to m e s s e d around with.
sure, we've stolen (their words) their best strikers, but if the poles can qualify for euros, and end up top of their group above portugal during qualifying, that means something. they've already sent the portugal team crying away with their tails between their legs, while germany ended up second in their qualifying group and got trashed 4-0 by czech republic. and drew with belarus, a supposedly much inferior team. and struggled against serbia which didn't even make it to the euros. poles have leo beenhakker, and he is one excellent coach that is mostly responsible for their surprising form this time 'round. of course, we have tom cruise joachim leow, who will never fail us with his beautiful dazzling smile his tactics either. but jogi and leo are not the ones fighting for three points on the field, which would bring us to the next point...

3. german players and p r e s s u r e.
poles have nothing to lose. if they win, awesome. if they lose, it's okay. germany? their country won't accept anything but a win. funny how people have confidence in the manschafft all over the world (have you seen the betting odds for germany? woah), but apparently morale is kinda low in the home base (or so internet reports say; they tend to get kinda exaggerated, y'know?). pressure is one great thing that we all have experienced before; it's hardly a friend, but more like an enemy. the germans have the pressure of an entire country and more on their shoulders and that might weigh them down. they dealt quite well with that during world cup though, so let's see if this time round it would be any different.

and of course, you have the entire german team form in question there. is klose finally back to his uber goal scoring machine self? is lehmann still whining about the ball? is poldi whining about starting in the match later on (i'd personally go with gomez =D)? is ballack gonna be able to be a wunderbar captain like he always is later on? we'll know in about six more hours.

i wish the best for the germany team. nach deutschland. and:

SCORE, KLOSE, SCORE!

going off to sleep now--i wouldn't wanna lose sleep and compromise myself for tomorrow's final sjwp presentation! last shot at stockholm (which is in sweden, not switzerland, hehe) and five grand!

oh, and you must watch the austria match. everyone needs a good laugh once in a while, and here's your chance to.

omgomg it's here it's here! 

the most exciting football event for these two years is here!

from hereon i start being a nocturnal animal. a crazy one that is decorating my house in germany and france colors. i did a painting of ballack, schweinsteiger and klose. oh yes i did. in poster colors. they looked like blobs of cream and white and black, but i guess you can tell them apart by their hair colors. i think i'll do up the french one tomorrow. 

i just watched the re-run of germany's home match against czech republic. yes. that is what i expect from a germany match--something that's been lacking from the friendlies leading up to euros. like the defence was tighter than now, and lehmann proved himself from time to time--not as much as petr cech, and that one goal from czech republic was a big joke. and watching a match with bernd schneider and a schneider-less one... well, you feel the impact. 

what's different now, apart from schneider missing? bundesliga/epl tiring out the guys? kinda funny since most of the germans were underused in their clubs due to injury or other reasons (see:lehmann arsenal drama--it's ended last season, thankgod--and poldi's "i-wanna-be-bayern's-starting-strikers-too!" drama). well, the out-of-form-ness can be a point. or the hard training camp jogi's had them on before friendlies on may. but ain't really big excuses, are they?

as a germany fan, even i can't be convinced we can scrape through euro. then again. funny how many people peg us as favorites (or if they don't, just write us off--off form or not, that is one thing you cannot do with a strong squad like germany, dude!). let's just hope that their training in their private hotel in ascona has done something--ballack and jogi for one (for two) have been saying that klose's back to his awesome shooting form. they also trashed some local U-18 team 8-0 (c'mon, man; top ten soccer team in the world just beating a bunch of teenagers 8-0? i expect a san marino repeat! i guess they don't wanna overexert themselves. that or they don't wanna humiliate the teens). germany just hafta get out of group b and totally kick portugal's ass, if they get out of group a (personally, i'm cheering turkey on to assimilate portugal. unlikely, but hey).

for france, i'm hoping ribery and titi pull outta their minor injury. and kinda hoping that domenech would wise up and start subbing henry with nasri and gomis often. and yesss benzema is on the starting XI--europe, meet the boy that's gonna rock your world, benzema, meet your playing stage. this may look and sound weird and all, but i'm happy that people are writing france off as not being able to even survive group of death. euros have always been an unpredictable tournament, and les blues may just blow all you soccer pundits' socks off and tell you that there is no such thing as "educated predictions" (aurgh, i hate those things--especially those that say portugal would win straight on). 

i can't emphasise hard enough how happy am i that england's not gonna be here. not only are they an overhyped group that hardly produces results under pressure, they are also made up of a bunch of big headed superstars who can't work together and have an insanely horrible temper. and who says that they play good football? selfish football has never been 'good' in my dictionary.

but still, the dramas on and off field, the WAGs bitching about each other and associated drama, and the original (kaffkaff) english tabloid would be missed. although the polish tabloid is trying to take on the huge task of blowing matters out of proportion decorated with crazily photoshopped pictures, like the one of leo beenhakker holding the decapitated heads of ballack and jogi. 

may you have an enjoyable uefa euro 2008 month. laugh, cry, cheer, mourn--ah, the joy of soccer. expect emotions!

fellow soccer fanatics, here's a gentle reminder to start sleeping early!

why? because singapore is far, far away from austria and also switzerland, and our timezone is harshly different than theirs. you can't blame no one, except maybe fate, for building such an unfair topography. while europeans can enjoy their matches during dinner, we can enjoy our matches with red eyes forced open and late night coffee.

while it used to be a once/twice weekly thing if you follow leagues/ligas/ligue, you're gonna have to do it every single day for three weeks now ('cept for the little break in between semis and final, but two days don't count much)! unless you're selective in watching your matches--like how i'm tempted to miss the group A qualifying, but awwww i just can't not pay attention to precious little ronaldo, can i? besides, i've always marked portugal as the most interesting team to watch after all, since most of their players can hardly stand on their feet for five whole minutes before suspiciously dropping towards the ground howling in pain.

and i just have to watch group d because of spain. everybody loves the spanish squad. for their star-studded team (let's call them a galaxy, because they are just a big group of stars). for fernando torres. for david villa. for their spanish-ness. me? i just think they're the best looking team in the tournament--right up my favorites france and germany. i mean, have you seen their group photo? strip them out of their uniforms and put them in their suits, and you'd think you're looking at hollywood materials.

then again, footballers tend to be sexy, like drop-dead gorgeous. is that a requirement? like:

AGENT: So, you want to be a famous footballer?

BOY: Yes, sir! Very much like to sir, like Beckham, Rooney, Ronaldo...

AGENT: Let's see your application form first, then. Good dribbling? Check. Good teamwork? Check. Good with penalties? Check. Know how to deal with referees? Check. Fluent in vulgarities? Check. Drop-dead gorgeoous, insanely handsome looks? Uhh... Son, I think we have a problem here.

BOY: Oh no, sir! What if I make it up by having really cool hair styled by a jar of Gasby's before matches every day?

AGENT: Put a nose-job in, and I'll welcome you to the squad, son!

and that's the reason why i've always told my brother he could never ever be a famous footballer. because he lacks that one extra ingredient.

anyway, female viewership of soccer games has been increasing steadily in recent years and we can attribute that to sebastian kehl (more specifically, his wardrobe malfunction may spark hopes in females who want to see more of those--patrick vieira comes pretty close), jose mourinho, cristiano ronaldo, and all those testerone-packed players. and cristiano ronaldo (i feel like i'm the only girl to be turned off by him, and this might be almost the case). apparently, their favorite part of the game is the end, when players take off their shirt and throw it towards the audience or swap it with the opposition team, or take it off for the hell of it (or if your name is bastian schweinsteiger, you take it off after you totally own a game against portugal when the match is still going on and gets sent off, but it's totally worth it, since you're man of the match, and you've just been nominated for germany's 'upper body of the year').

weirdly enough, i usually stop focusing after the final whistle is blown and stops staring at the topless players. usually, by then i'd be about to get back to sleep, or i'd be thinking about some moments in the game, or i'd be thinking about george clooney, which i always do whenever i'm bored (don't you, ladies?). unless miroslav klose is stripping, i'm not interested. (sometimes, i do take a peek at post-chelsea games when frank lampard would take off his shirt, and in post arsenal games when cesc fabregas does that--but what the hell, i'm still a girl, aren't i?)

i pretty much like the moment when both teams come on, holding some nervous kids by the hand as thousands of fans cheer their names. you get to see all sorts of emotions there, like different colors mixed on a canvas. the plus side about this is that sometimes they'll interview the players as they're getting ready. i've always liked these interviews: insight on the players themselves, and you get to sense their nervousness, or their confidence. cool.

a really, really big plus is when they provide you with a special--after the match, in the locker room, with the manager and cheering players up to no good. not england-drunk kind of no good (funny squad, they are--at the brink of losing qualification for euros, they were getting drunk, terry was peeing on the floor, while some senior player begging for threesome), just a "drunk-with-happiness" kinda no good where they splash each other with coke and ice water. i've got a video: apres match--finale de la coupe de la france, which is an after-the-match interview of the managerial figures as well as the happy players after lyon won double last month. nothing beats the blur videos of the lyon players celebrating so happily in their locker room, spraying water at everyone, dancing crazily, hugging each other... happiness can be contagious through virtual means, apparently, because it was seeping through my computer and into my room while i was watching the video.

football is all about those eleven players on the field--and that's the beautiful thing. sometimes the players hate each other, sometimes they become BFFs, and sometimes they do the cutest little thing like watching Shrek 3 in bed (ederson, lloris--thankyou lloris for choosing OL!), making little bets like who'll score most for euros (toni, klose--good luck with that bet), pouring buckets of water over each other's head (ribery, you joker, you)... on field, off field, it's always been the players that interest us most--other than that little black and white ball that has never ever lost our fascination.

ahh shucks; i didn't mean for this post to be so long. i've gotta get to sleep myself.

note to self: need to start investing in coffess starting tomorrow.

i am the democratic party presidential nominee!

not me. i mean, no, 'course not. it's barack obama, silly! he's made history--first black presidential candidate for a major candidate in usa history.

congratulations for persuading the delegates to vote in your favor, sir. now, the hard work begins. john mccain ain't the republican nominee 'cause he's a softie, nay? may the best man win; whoever wins would still make a great president, because after all, he would be taking over from george bush.

yes, now people whose chatname has "OBAMA FTW!!! XD" "<3 OBAMA!!!!111eleven!" can celebrate. even if they don't even know his first name and don't even know that he was running to be a democratic presidential nominee, and that this victory doesn't mean he's straight away usa's forty-fourth president. these people sicken me since it seems that obama has become a phenomenon like all things pink, like lewis hamilton, and fernando torres: he's become a 'cool' wave that gotta hit every joe and mary in the streets, and anyone desperate (read: most people) would quickly wave his name to be 'cool'. while i don't like torres and hamilton--i think they're overhyped, seriously--i like obama, and i don't want him to fall under this stupid category.

(yeah, see, obama's become one of the things that desperate girls say, another thing being "gerrardgerrardtorrestorresyay!"--and if you tell these girls that "hey, you know that a soccer team is made up of eleven people?" and they'd repeat "gerrardgerrardtorrestorresyay!" eleven times before bounding off into the sunset screaming "i support england for euro cup!" and "osama--i mean, obama ftw!". they think that saying these things would make them cool or whatever, but unfortunately enough, some people in the streets just make their lives happier by thinking yes, they do make them cooler.

i tell you what: people are always so busy finding ways to make themselves 'cool' and 'in' in the shortest, most painless possible way. like wearing shorts so short they're non existent--here's my suggestion to you, you want to attract attention, then just go out in your undies. it's kinda sad, since this kind of attitude is the reason why america is in the brink of recession: people choosing the shortest path to reach their targets, hoping to evade all the hassles and difficulties that should come along with it in the default path.)

you gotta admit that his publicity strategy is plain genius. analysts say that between him and clinton, the main difference is how they present themselves, and their marketing strategy. apparently, clinton's 'very hard to reach' while obama's publicity people have transformed him into the coolest kid in town.

me? i like obama because of his speeches, visions and how he can squeeze himself out of holes the clintons or mccain or he make himself (yeah, there are a few lapses: see wright, jeremiah). and maybe because he has that teeny weeny little bit connection with indonesians (his mom remarried an indonesian guy and she'd stayed in indonesia for the better part of her life, being very interested in the javanese culture and more). publicity or not, obama's charismatic. and unlike clinton, he sure knows how to treat people right (especially if these people write columns and now these people are saying about how clinton's people have turned them away not-so-politely during her campaigns).

clinton's still not throwing towel in yet, though. hey, you gotta give her credit: she's a real capable person oozing with leadership quality. obama's been asking her to be his vice president if he makes it, but who knows what she'll say? would she let pride get the better of her, or would she try to hold on to politics and the chance to help billions of lives as the second most powerful person on earth?

--------------------

btw, darren just corrected me that stockholm is sweden. my bad. xD

and i watched the france match live today. uhh, whatever i have to say i've already said it in offside, but despite an entertaining game, france wouldnt last in the group of death with that kind of game. we need balls to find the back of opponent's net, and not for the balls to confuse our defenders. henry is NOT convincing me of his place in the starting eleven; anelka, gomis would be more justified--benzema is a must. ribery is amazing as always, although how he was fouled (so many times!) was a bit of an alarm; we don't want our star player to arrive in austria and switzerland in crutches, huh? by the time he was subbed out, i think dear franck's got a bloody ear and something that looked like an injured ankle...

oh yeah, why thierry henry--the GREAT THIERRY HENRY--is a deadweight to me? simple: wasted chances, lost balls, slowed pace compared to two years ago. he'd scored two goals in the game by the way--only they weren't legal, 'course. it was pointed out that maybe with the game being a friendly and the players not willing to assert themselves too much before the real thing resulted in a not so spectacular result and i would very very much like to agree with this--i'd like to hope that it's true. after all, Titi's been in a fine form during qualifying, and he oughta replicate that form during the genuine tournament.

and the german team's arrived for the cup, with tom cruise a smiling jogi leading their way to possible glory.

... having people spamming my inbox to know how i'm planning my holiday, my week, my day, my hour, blahblahblah every couple of minutes is not on the top of my list of my favorite things. i certainly don't appreciate people calling me for that purpose, or to answer the smses for that purpose. my beloved n95 is used for urgent messages/messages worth replying because my bill's already through the roof from contacting people overseas and i'll try to reply whatever you're trying to talk to me about on msn because 1) it's free and 2) it's free.

unless, you know, you're the recently single george clooney. i'd pick up the phone straight away. hell, i'll fly to lake como at that moment's notice.

please don't take the above as an offensive comment or something; i'd just like to excuse myself for not returning the messages i've been/will be getting.

----------------

shit, i'm down with a really bad flu. and both of my eyes are now swollen.

--------------

today's finally seem to take a whole new different pattern--you see, this holiday has been a boring and lonely one for me since my brother isn't here for me to pick a fight with and my sister's always away in school so i can't pick a fight with her either and i have only a ps3 as a gaming platform with 4 bloody games--i watched two movies today! made of honor was just a plain, plain waste of my ten bucks while narnia was more interesting. it sure has some of its weak points (like: prince caspian's wooden acting), but i was busy thinking very very hard throughout the movie i could hardly notice that the indonesians behind me were making so much bloody noise.

why was i thinking hard when this movie was meant to be relaxing, not a thriller at all? 'cause i know that this movie has theological connotations in it, and i was trying to understand that as best as i can. it doesn't take a genius to figure out who aslan is, or who the white witch is supposed to be (oh, d'oh!). prince caspian's a little easy too: he's moses, the "contradictory figure"--in the words of the movie itself--in history (he was actually made an egyptian nobel/prince, was he not?) who led the oppressed israelis out of egypt all the while showing them that God has not yet abandoned His chosen people; in narnia-sense, he leads narnians to find their freedom and belief in aslan again. although at times he can also represent humans that are forced to choose between good and evil, and seduced by the latter under pressure (see: the instance when the white witch tempts him and peter).

peter represents us, the humans who have forgotten all that God's done for us and instead prides ourselves and relies on our meager skills. or he can represent simon peter, who is the leader of the church, but there was an instance he'd denied Jesus three times.

edmund is just plain adorable. (: i think he's cute.

lucy may represent the few human beings who believe, but yet dare not seek. one of the very very underlying message of the movie may be that these people should find the courage to seek God to help those in need of Him. my sister says she's annoying, but to me she's cut a really strong figure; she's not equipped with swords or bows or axes, she's only got her faith and hope, and they've served her well.

the dlf (the cute dwarf) represents the cynics who's come to believe. also may be thomas, who needed to see Jesus and touched His hands and stomach to believe.

the evil uncle's the evil pharaoh. and so probably is the evil plotter who killed the evil uncle to take over narnia?

it's quite nice to watch the events of the bible taking shape in the big screen in the form of this franchise. other than that, i enjoyed the sarcastic (sometimes predicable/cliche) one-liners which only show that the four kids have grown up (technically, they are grown ups in kids' bodies) and the movie's a little bit more darker. the CGs are beautiful and breathtaking--really love the "red sea" scene; i thought i saw aquaman destroying atlantis there, reminiscent of JLA obsidian age storyline. then, narnia of course has to turn into a "neverland" where grownups like peter and susan can no longer visit the world--still trying to find meaning of that one; my brain's stopped working ever since i reached home--and the romance subplot is... well, it's certainly a crowd pleaser, but i find it a bit redundant and forced: it feels like it's just added in as a last minute attempt to decorate the christmas tree or to to spice up the dish, what with it being so underdeveloped and stuff.

anyway, today i've managed to spend lots of money again. damn it; i don't trust myself with money anymore. i bought these on impulse:



i couldn't get my jerseys--france's isn't in and germany only available in XL. and it's expensive, as expected: 109 bucks. i'm hoping that they'd sell it cheaper in queensway since hey, it's orchard road! but i can't believe i bought these two balls there; they cost me like 23 bucks each while randy got his holland one for 17 bucks in queensway. i lost 12 bucks just like that.

they're a pair of heckuva nice balls though.

i was thinking that i could engrave GOMIS on the france jersey and GOMEZ on the german jersey. =D two young, up-and-coming, amazing strikers brimming with potential who may actually play a part on bringing the cup to their countries.

by the way, france screwed up against paraguay. it was the germany game all over again--tremendous talent upfront and yet so many wasted chances. unlike the germany game however, france didn't score a single goal and the game ended in a goalless draw. there was a leak in the defense (just like germany) and it's clear that france still suffers from the postzidanetrauma, a condition in which a team has lost the motivational leader that keeps the team together and brings it together as a dangerous attacking arsenal feared by all. a potential cure still in clinical trials for this condition may be in the form of the franck ribery, and continuous dosage (aka, play him every single minute of the euro campaign) of this treatment is needed in order to achieve success.

anyway, guy in the cinema didn't give us our twenty bucks change. i asked him for it, he said he'd already given me. we were only convinced that he didn't after checking everyone's wallet, and by then, it's already too late. damn it.